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Plenty of people fight against violent confiscation of private land. You don't have to be arrogant or greedy to resist.

InitialLastName 8y ago
There is no private land in the United States that was not confiscated either by direct violence or through the threat of violence. In fact, private land can only exist thanks to the threat of violence against those who would use it outside of the "owner's" intent.
- ColanR 8y ago
  > In fact, private land can only exist thanks to the threat of violence against those who would use it outside of the "owner's" intent. Kinda like what makes your wallet 'yours'.
  - InitialLastName 8y ago
    Exactly. The key difference, though, is that my wallet is unlikely to be directly useful for the creation of a public good. Some portion of the contents are frequently used to that end though.
- arethuza 8y ago
  "There is no private land in the United States that was not confiscated either by direct violence or through the threat of violence." I hardly think the United States in unique in that respect - just that it perhaps happened more recently than a lot of other places.
- mikeash 8y ago
  Wasn’t Manhattan purchased peacefully from the natives?
  - InitialLastName 8y ago
    All (admittedly cursory) evidence points to: - Purchased from a tribe that didn't have credible control over the area followed by - 20 years of skirmishes/wars with the tribe that actually controlled the area.
sbuttgereit 8y ago
Since we aren't really discussing anything in this part of the thread and merely advocating viewpoints on the subject... Every year I give financial support to civil liberty organizations such as the Institute for Justice (https://ij.org https://ij.org) and the Pacific Legal Foundation (https://pacificlegal.org https://pacificlegal.org). Because, after you demonize certain people as a justification for treating them any way you want, you find some of them aren't really that bad and are just trying to protect what they worked hard to get in the first place. So, rather than try to fire up the mobs with appeals to emotion, I'd much rather fund those organizations which are fighting for individual rights in the courts and with the law.
PhasmaFelis 8y ago
Was violence actually used, or is this "violence" meaning "anything the government does that someone doesn't like"?

There is no private land in the United States that was not confiscated either by direct violence or through the threat of violence. In fact, private land can only exist thanks to the threat of violence against those who would use it outside of the "owner's" intent.

ColanR 8y ago
> In fact, private land can only exist thanks to the threat of violence against those who would use it outside of the "owner's" intent. Kinda like what makes your wallet 'yours'.
- InitialLastName 8y ago
  Exactly. The key difference, though, is that my wallet is unlikely to be directly useful for the creation of a public good. Some portion of the contents are frequently used to that end though.
arethuza 8y ago
"There is no private land in the United States that was not confiscated either by direct violence or through the threat of violence." I hardly think the United States in unique in that respect - just that it perhaps happened more recently than a lot of other places.
mikeash 8y ago
Wasn’t Manhattan purchased peacefully from the natives?
- InitialLastName 8y ago
  All (admittedly cursory) evidence points to: - Purchased from a tribe that didn't have credible control over the area followed by - 20 years of skirmishes/wars with the tribe that actually controlled the area.

sbuttgereit 8y ago

Since we aren't really discussing anything in this part of the thread and merely advocating viewpoints on the subject... Every year I give financial support to civil liberty organizations such as the Institute for Justice (https://ij.org https://ij.org) and the Pacific Legal Foundation (https://pacificlegal.org https://pacificlegal.org). Because, after you demonize certain people as a justification for treating them any way you want, you find some of them aren't really that bad and are just trying to protect what they worked hard to get in the first place. So, rather than try to fire up the mobs with appeals to emotion, I'd much rather fund those organizations which are fighting for individual rights in the courts and with the law.

PhasmaFelis 8y ago

Was violence actually used, or is this "violence" meaning "anything the government does that someone doesn't like"?